CVE-2021-40690: Xmlsec Exposure Of Sensitive Information To Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-j8wc-gxx9-82hx
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-200
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-40690 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) exposure of sensitive information to vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting Xmlsec libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in apache santuario. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.2.3, 2.1.7.

CVE-2021-40690 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-40690
GHSA Identifier GHSA-j8wc-gxx9-82hx
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Affected Product Xmlsec
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2021-40690

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Xmlsec dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

org.apache.santuario:xmlsec fixed: 2.2.3 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.santuario</groupId>
    <artifactId>xmlsec</artifactId>
    <version>2.2.3</version>
</dependency>
org.apache.santuario:xmlsec fixed: 2.1.7 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.santuario</groupId>
    <artifactId>xmlsec</artifactId>
    <version>2.1.7</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.santuario

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-40690, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.santuario

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Xmlsec in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.2.3), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.santuario command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. In Xmlsec, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

All versions of Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java prior to 2.2.3 and 2.1.7 are vulnerable to an issue where the "secureValidation" property is not passed correctly when creating a KeyInfo from a KeyInfoReference element. This allows an attacker to abuse an XPath Transform to extract any local .xml files in a RetrievalMethod element.

CVE-2021-40690 Affected Xmlsec Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.2.32.1.7
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.apache.santuario:xmlsec
maven/org.apache.santuario/xmlsec
Maven
≥ 2.2.0
< 2.2.3
2.2.3
org.apache.santuario:xmlsec
maven/org.apache.santuario/xmlsec
Maven
< 2.1.7
2.1.7

References

NVD — CVE-2021-40690 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-40690
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3b3f5b... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3b3f5ba9b0de8c9c125077b71af06026d344a709a8ba67db81ee9faa@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r401ecb... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r401ecb7274794f040cd757b259ebe3e8c463ae74f7961209ccad3c59@%3Cissues.cxf.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r884875... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8848751b6a5dd78cc9e99d627e74fecfaffdfa1bb615dce827aad633%40%3Cdev.santuario.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8a5c0c... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8a5c0ce9014bd07303aec1e5eed55951704878016465d3dae00e0c28@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9c100d... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9c100d53c84d54cf71975e3f0cfcc2856a8846554a04c99390156ce4@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/raf352f... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/raf352f95c19c0c4051af3180752cb69acbea88d0d066ab176c6170e8@%3Cuser.poi.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbbbac0... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbbbac0759b12472abd0c278d32b5e0867bb21934df8e14e5e641597c@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbdac11... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbdac116aef912b563da54f4c152222c0754e32fb2f785519ac5e059f@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/re294cf... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/re294cfc61f509512874ea514d8d64fd276253d54ac378ffa7a4880c8@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/09/msg00015.html
Xmlsec Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230818-0002
Xmlsec Security Information SECURITY
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5010
Xmlsec Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
Xmlsec Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-40690?
CVE-2021-40690 is a security vulnerability in Xmlsec involving Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in Apache Santuario under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.
Which Xmlsec versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.2.3, 2.1.7 across affected packages: org.apache.santuario:xmlsec.
What version fixes CVE-2021-40690?
Upgrading to 2.2.3, 2.1.7 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is xmlsec affected?
Yes, org.apache.santuario:xmlsec is affected in releases prior to 2.2.3, 2.1.7. Upgrade your dependency to 2.2.3, 2.1.7 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-40690?
CVE-2021-40690 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-40690?
CVE-2021-40690 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-40690?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.santuario'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-j8wc-gxx9-82hx",
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  "published" : "2021-09-20T23:18:41Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-40690" ],
  "summary" : "Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in Apache Santuario",
  "details" : "All versions of Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java prior to 2.2.3 and 2.1.7 are vulnerable to an issue where the \"secureValidation\" property is not passed correctly when creating a KeyInfo from a KeyInfoReference element. This allows an attacker to abuse an XPath Transform to extract any local .xml files in a RetrievalMethod element.",
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  }, {
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbdac116aef912b563da54f4c152222c0754e32fb2f785519ac5e059f@%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/09/msg00015.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230818-0002"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5010"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-200" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-09-20T20:24:35Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-09-19T18:15:00Z"
  }
}